Thread: Nine new HD PPV Channels?

Originally Posted by lakebum431

Don - that is where we differ. I don't have a Blockbuster or Netflix subscritpion because
1) I really only want to watch movies in HD and don't yet have either of the HD players
2) I really don't have time to watch many per month - 1 or 2 at the most.

So for me this is perfect. Lots of choices out there and I'll pay 8 or 10 bucks a month to watch the 2 HD movies that I want to see. Now if they get into a bandwidth restriction and need to add some more national channels I believe that that should take priority over these channels, but for now I think this is great!

Same here. Ideal for folks like us, that see no point in paying an extra monthly fee for unlimited PPV. Wouldn't seem to be much different than paying for a movie package like HBO, which I also don't do.

It would be nice if they made a simple list of all HD PPV for the month, listed alphabetically. Much easier than scrolling thru, and if I could review it easier, I might see and rent one. But not if it self destructs after a set period like VOD.

HBO is also eventually supposed to go all HD right? Is it 7 or 9 channels? If the price is fair I will be signing up for it again when they are available and I hope adding these PPVHD channels wont interfere with that.

Originally Posted by lakebum431

Don - that is where we differ. I don't have a Blockbuster or Netflix subscritpion because
1) I really only want to watch movies in HD and don't yet have either of the HD players
2) I really don't have time to watch many per month - 1 or 2 at the most.

So for me this is perfect. Lots of choices out there and I'll pay 8 or 10 bucks a month to watch the 2 HD movies that I want to see. Now if they get into a bandwidth restriction and need to add some more national channels I believe that that should take priority over these channels, but for now I think this is great!

Hey no problem. They could still offer a pay per view at the higher price for those who watch a movie couple of times every 3-4 months.

And, I understand that many people have other priorities in their home entertainment, not everyone watches movies. Sports takes up lots of most people's time. Currently I watch more NGTV and Discovery HD and now the Science channel so my time for movies is now less.

But I do feel if you watch more than 6 movies a month these Movie pass deals are a money saving alternative.

Originally Posted by Scott Greczkowski

Not a waste at all, as they may not be using any additional bandwidth.

How typical of many here, they read what they want to read and continue to babble. I think that Scott has a little more insight than others who rant here. Read before your write.

Personally I don't have any interest in PPV and I wish that E* would not use their time and energy (and hopefully not bandwidth) on these channels. That being said if others think they'll use it a lot then so be it.

I have never purchased a PPV. HD or SD. My initial reation was this is a waste of Bandwidth. After reading the posts I will hold on that judgment if, as several have pointed out, Dish is just putting to use bandwidth that would be wasted anyway. Just as long as the real HD programming continues to expand without interuption. I guess maybe its a good move. I might consider reducing my package from the Everything Pack to the Top 250 and start using the PPV option for HD now that I can archive to HDD. I've been thinking of dropping the movie channels because it's been awhile since I watched anything good on them anyway.

If they are sharing space with the RSN's then my guess is that they are planning on using space on E5 to provide PPV? Sure hope that isn't the plan.

The thread brings out the varied opinions on PPV whether HD or SD. But while Walt supported my premise, I do not agree with him that the people in programming dept are complete morons or whatever he said. As I work in TV I make a profession of studying how TV is marketed. The people he refers to just are stuck inside a traditional box.
Let me offer this because it is true-
Most TV managers work in a traditional box they learned from Broadcast. What I'm saying is, if they want to increase revenues, they need to take a piece of the pie from the competition. To do that means they need to offer packages that people want, not what they want you to have, which is the traditional old Broadcast mentality. That means, if they know they make money on you that buys 2-4 PPV a month. They need to consider how to sell it so that they keep that revenue but then steal away customers who are viewing more than 8 per month.

Just because I only watch my home team on NFL does not mean that I feel DirecTV should drop NFLST. I used to have it and it was a real waste of money for me because the only games I would watch were already free on local broadcast. NFLST was never meant for me. It was meant for people who need to watch more than 4 games every Sunday afternoon. Similarly, Movie Pass is meant for those that rent more than 6-8 movies a month. But if DirecTV really wanted to grab my business back they would need to offer me more than waht I get from the free broadcast. I told them what that was. It is NFLST that is exempt from all blackouts! Boy is that easy or what? Unfortunately, DirecTV has no balls to stand up to the NFL and demand this. Therefore they lose my business.

The second category is selection. NFLST also apeal to those who need to watch a cornucopia of teams. PPV will not satisfy that need because it only offers a smidgeon of selection. If the DVR is now active for PPV, they need to rotate the movies on each channel so that 12 different movies per day per channel can be selected, scheduled and DVR'd for viewing as you want. This would make it much more competitive with DVD rental as well. Last I checked, both D* and DN* were running the same PPV movie on more than 1 channel with varying start times. While this made sense before DVR, is is silly to continue in this practice and this is where I agree they waste bandwidth in an obsolete programming concept.

If you are happy watching a PPV HD movie for $4.99 at a time when they say. No reason this marketing plan could not be continued. I'm just suggesting how they could improve it and grab some of the DVD renters out there.
Adding the 9 new channels if done with the traditional model will not grab my business. Make it competitive with what I have now for that product and they will get that revenue from me rather than Blockbuster.

Originally Posted by Don Landis

The thread brings out the varied opinions on PPV whether HD or SD. But while Walt supported my premise, I do not agree with him that the people in programming dept are complete morons or whatever he said. As I work in TV I make a profession of studying how TV is marketed. The people he refers to just are stuck inside a traditional box.
Let me offer this because it is true-...

Excellent post Don. Thanks!

I'd like to see E* offer a Netflix-type of deal on HD PPV. Instead of $4.99/movie, maybe something like $19.99/month for unlimited HD PPV. Or even some kind of discounted arrangement, like $15.99 for 5 HD PPVs.

It seems to me that this could generate more revenue for E*. You entice people into buying packages that they rarely use up, like cell phone minutes.

I almost never buy a PPV, but would be tempted to buy a $19.99/month unlimited PPV package, especially if the movies were shown in OAR.

Take on NetFlix at their own game. with faster customer gratification.